County budget director Eric Johnson said he would try to scrub the budget "to find dollars" for the program.

The changes came as commissioners continued to tweak County Administrator Pat Bean's plan to cut county spending dramatically over the next two years.

In response to falling property values, Bean outlined a plan in June to cut nearly $133 million in spending from the county's $1.7 billion annual operating budget. Bean's original cuts hit virtually every county office and service.

Since then, commissioners and their staff have worked to find every available dollar, create new partnerships and, in some cases, generate more revenue to restore services.

On Wednesday, commissioners voted to raise fees for pet registrations and day care licenses in an effort to preserve animal services and child care programs.

And on Thursday, the county got some key help filling a $1.9 million funding gap for child care licensing and after-school programs over the next two years.

The plan involves combining cash contributions from the Children's Board of Hillsborough County, the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County, the state Department of Children and Families and Hillsborough County and the increased child care licensing fees approved this week.

In addition, the Early Learning Coalition said it can leverage the money from the Children's Board and county and licensing fees to bring in federal matching funds to support the programs in the future.

Hillsborough commissioners are scheduled to hold public hearings on Sept. 8 and 17 before adopting the budget.

There is a reason why the air in Tampa Bay is filled with playoff talk. If Thursday night's 12-8 Bucs preseason win over the Jaguars is any indication, it's also going to be filled with footballs thrown by quarterback Jameis Winston.